Apollo Sports Capital, Tom Dundon make $225M pickleball investment
Ben Johns comes to the right side to take a hard shot against Anna Bright and Hayden Patriquine during the 2026 PPA Carvana Mesa Cup final match of the Pro Mixed Doubles Division at the Arizona Athletic Grounds on February 22, 2026 in Mesa, Arizona.
Bruce Yeung | Getty Images
Pickleball Inc., the new parent company of Major League Pickleball and the PPA Tour, said Friday it has raised a record $225 million in new investment as rowing continues its rapid growth trajectory.
The latest investment comes from Apollo Global Management’s newly created sports fund. Apollo Sports CapitalAnd Dundon Capital PartnersIt is owned by billionaire Tom Dundon. Dundon is the owner of the Portland Trail Blazers NBA team and the Carolina Hurricanes NHL team and was one of the early investors in pickleball.
The new funds bring the total investment in Pickleball Inc. to $315 million as investors continue to look at emerging sports as a place to park their money. The increase values Pickleball Inc. at $750 million, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the company’s valuation.
The deal also includes several pickleball assets, Pickleball Inc. This includes creating what the company calls its largest pickleball ecosystem to date.
Pickleball Inc. will acquire the portfolio of pickleball assets previously owned by Dundon. Pickleball CenterFounded in 2006, it is a leading pickleball equipment site. Its portfolio also includes: PickleballTurnuvaları.com, As well as software that powers thousands of tournaments at all levels of play Fair Courtsa pickleball court installer.
Pickleball Inc.’s newly combined business segments total revenue of more than $140 million in 2025, the company said.
In a statement, MLP and PPA Tour CEO Connor Pardoe called the new investment a “seismic day” for pickleball’s rapidly growing business at all levels.
“This investment allows us to fully integrate the sport into a single ecosystem by combining professional pickleball, consumer goods, technology and media under one unified platform,” Pardoe said. he said.
Dundon and the Pardoe family will remain the majority shareholders of the company following the investment.
Pickleball has surged in popularity in recent years, with more than 24 million U.S. players participating by 2025, making it the fastest-growing sport in the country over the past three years. Annual Report of the Sports and Fitness Industry Association.
At the professional level, the MLP and PPA Tour have seen major growth, with $30 million in total sponsorship revenue in 2025 and $60 million in total revenue in 2025, according to the United Pickleball Association, which operates both leagues. MLP and PPA Tour are expected to generate a total revenue of $74 million in 2026.
The new capital from Pickleball Inc. will be used to further integrate the pickleball business across all levels of play and create a modern pickleball ecosystem, the company said.
“This capital raise will enable us to focus on new and scalable opportunities such as the development of content, media and infrastructure to support our rapidly growing events,” MLP Commissioner Samin Odhwani said in a statement. he said. “Continued and dynamic year-over-year growth data has proven beyond doubt that pickleball is no longer a nascent sport and is instead rapidly becoming the next premier sport in America.”
